


Hiraeth

by CreamerCrumble



Category: Hermitcraft RPF, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Blood and Injury, Gen, Interactive Fiction, Mystery, Not permadeath, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Puzzles, Reader-Interactive, Riddles, Violence, at least not yet, is that the right tags? Anyways, you’ll see what I mean
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:15:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28359930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CreamerCrumble/pseuds/CreamerCrumble
Summary: Hiraeth(N) a homesickness for a home you can’t return to, or that never was....Welcome to Hiraeth, an interactive fanfic where the story shall change based on your collective decisions. The difference between life and death may only ride on the outcome of one, single, poll result. You have the power to change everything. Do not fret, I will give you a more in-depth explanation in due time.So? Shall we play a little game?
Relationships: Friendships Only
Comments: 70
Kudos: 43





	1. Prologue: Not home

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Pessimum](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26435680) by [Stowaway_Macaw](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stowaway_Macaw/pseuds/Stowaway_Macaw). 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Look around, look around, at how lucky we are to be alive right now.” - ‘That would be enough’, Hamilton.

DISCLAIMER

There will be deaths, violence and most likely other heavy topics in this fic, please take care of yourself first and foremost. This fanfic is just a piece of fiction, don’t take it too seriously. I will try my best to put trigger/content warnings as necessary, but please remember that I’m human too and mistakes can happen. Also I proof read this many times but I might still miss some typos, apologies in advance. 

Anything anyone does in this fanfic does not reflect them as a person (obviously). HOWEVER, there will be no romance here regardless. Any actions that can be taken the wrong way (such as hugging or holding hands) are meant to be purely platonic. 

Thank you for reading! Have fun! 

... 

“...Why are they here?”

“To fulfill a purpose, to guide the lost, to change fate itself.”

“I see. Do you think this will last?”

“Nothing lasts forever, everything is always changing. That includes you, me, and them.”

“...”

“That doesn’t mean it won’t matter, everything has meaning in one way or another.”

“They are listening.”

“Good.”

“...Let us leave them to it. Would you like to say something to them?”

“Everything is under your watch, all of you. Now, our time is up.”

“Wake up.”

…

“Wake up.”

“aiRgN, eKwA pU.”

…  
“...an! Wake up!”

“Grian! Wake up!”

When his eyes shot open, he was met with the coolness of the air and the sound of calming music. The combination of the two did not help in easing his panic as his body shot up suddenly, looking around to see what was going on.

“Woah!! Careful there.” The figure next to him jumped back, effectively avoiding getting hit by his body. Grian rubbed his eyes a bit before focusing back, trying to process who it was.

“...Ren?”

“Who else?” The other man chuckled lightly, sitting on the floor right besides him. How long has he been here? How long was he out for anyways? Questions kept entering his mind at rapid speed, he didn’t know how to respond or what to ask.

“...Huh?”

Wow, very profound, Grian.

Ren seems to find it entertaining though, as he gave another hearty chuckle at his less than ideal reply, even if his expression was one of concern. “It’s ok my dude! You just woke up. It’s not like I understand anything any more than you do.” The dog hybrid rambled as Grian took a look around.

They were laying on the floor of a brightly lit room, a very big one with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and a big flight of stairs. Speakers blasting soft music that never seems to end compliments the style of the room nicely, almost as if this was a ballroom of a big mansion, which when he thought about it, would make a lot of sense.

As beautiful as the room was, it didn’t answer much.

“Ren? Where...Where are we?”

Ren stopped in his tracks, finally looking back towards him. His features seemed to twist into one of fear, confusion and uncertainty all rolled up into one. Finally, he replied with a “I don’t know…you’re the only person who woke up so far.”

Grian paused, the only one who woke up? That was when he looked over to see some of his fellow hermits passed out haphazardly on the floor, the only indicator of life being the rise and fall of their chests. The image still spurred on the worst case scenario in his head.

“Guys! They’re not—”

“I checked, I’ve been trying to wake them up for 5 minutes. I was scared too, but everyone is alive.” Ren stated, keeping calm for the most part. “I don’t know why we’re here, though. I can’t even remember how we got here in the first place, I just woke up here and saw you guys on the floor.”

Grian nodded absentmindedly. He had a lot on his mind, but before he could ask another question, the two heard a groan not too far away. They turned to see one of their friends slowly sitting up, rubbing their eyes like Grian did moments ago.

“False!”

False turned around at the mention of her name, squinting as if her vision didn’t return to her quite yet. “Grian? Ren?” She muttered before taking a look around. “Where are we? Why are they—”

Ren cut her off. “We’ll talk about that once we can wake up everyone, ‘cause I don’t think any of us will know much more than you.” He said, receiving a hesitant nod from False as she began to stand up and take a proper look at the room they were in. “This doesn’t look like anything any of us built, at least not in hermitcraft.” She pointed out as she carefully navigated her way through the room without stepping on anyone, peering into what seems to be a long hallway.

“Guys, take a look at this!” False exclaimed, waving Ren and Grian to come over before pointing towards the nameplate next to one of the doors in the hallway. “This one has XB’s name on it.” She then walked over to the next room. “And this has Xisuma’s name...and both of these doors seem to be locked.”

Grian took a mental note as he turned around to meet with one other, grander-looking door. “There’s another door here, this doesn’t have a nameplate though.” He contemplates, twisting the doorknob only to discover that it was locked as well. “Maybe the one with name plates are bedrooms specifically assigned to each of us and the one without are rooms for other things? Maybe a dining room or a living room and such.”

“Why would we need bedrooms though?” Ren mumbled quizzically, examining the nameplates closer. “It’s not like we’re going to stay the night here, right? Once everyone else wakes up, we could just leave.”

“We might not have a choice.” False spoke up, looking more concerned by the second. The blonde girl was facing a window, looking outside. “Look.”

Grian and Ren immediately rushed to the window as False moved away from it to give way from the two. Now, Grian was not one for swear words, but he felt very close to saying it upon seeing the sights outside.

It was an ocean. They were on an island.

He was lost for words.

“What the heck? But— But how!? There’s nothing but the ocean!” Ren leaned closer to the window, looking around as if that would change anything. “But shouldn’t there be builds visible? Unless we’re somehow outside the border…”

“Can we even be sure…” False looked down at the floor, her fingers on her chin in a thoughtful manner. She bit her lips before looking back up towards the other two, looking between the both of them. “Can we be sure we’re on the hermitcraft server right now? Think about it, we don’t know where we are, we have nothing on us, and from what we can see this looks nothing like our server.” The blonde then took a breath. “For all we know, we’re not home.”

“What on earth is going on?”

The three of them turned around to the voice behind them with caution, only to break out into smiles once they saw who it was.

“Xisuma! Keralis! You’re awake!” Ren exclaimed, tackling Xisuma in a tight hug, earning a yelp from the armored man, and a laugh from Keralis. The latter turned towards Grian and False, seeing relief in their faces. Keralis tilted his head before looking past them and towards the window, his wide eyes somehow got wider with surprise. “Is that the ocean?”

“Oh, Yeah.” Ren then lets Xisuma go, a hand falling to rest on his hips while another falls by his side. “Xisuma, can you check if you’re the admin? That might answer some questions.” Grian could see False nodding in agreement while Xisuma looked a bit confused at the request, but complied anyways.

“Huh.” Xisuma started, looking at his communicator with confusion plastered on his face. “That’s odd...I can’t access the admin panel, so I guess I’m not.”

“So that answers our question, then.” False cut in. “We’re not on hermitcraft. Wherever THIS is, it’s not home.”

Silence washed over them, as if realization just struck them simultaneously.

This isn’t hermitcraft.

This isn’t their home.

“...So, what now?”

Everyone looked towards Keralis, who shattered the silence, staring at them with an unreadable expression. Grian couldn’t tell if it was concern, confusion, determination, or perhaps it was a mix of all 3. Keralis let out a quiet sigh, closing his eyes to compose himself. “There’s 15 other hermits that are still in that room, we can’t do much without talking with the group first.”

He was right, Grian realized. As it stands, just the 5 of them probably couldn’t do much, not to mention it would be unfair to the other hermits. “Why don’t we go back for now? This hallway is getting a bit cramp.” He suggested, receiving nods from the others.

When they were back, they could see another 3 hermits awake.

“Oh, hey guys!” Came Impulse’s oddly high-pitched greeting. The man wore a strained smile, as if he was forcing it, and was sitting on the floor next to the sleeping bodies of Tango and Zedaph. “Glad to see you, but uh, could anyone explain this?” He asked, not far away from him was Doc and Stress. The creeper hybrid supporting his friend as she stood up, earning a small ‘thank you’ as he did so.

Right after some bit of explanation that Grian wasn’t really paying attention to, since he heard it already, another person— which is Wels, woke up and asked for an explanation as well.

“Right, maybe we should wait until everyone is awake to explain what we know.” Xisuma suggested, earning nods from a few other awake hermits. The former admin turned back towards Wels, helping him up from the floor. “Would that be alright with you?”

The knight smiled, gentle and kind. “Of course, it’s probably best for the group anyways.”

-2-0—H-E-R-M-I-T-S—R-E-M-A-I-N-I-N-G-

And so they waited.

Cub was the next to wake up, he immediately went and sat next to the sleeping Scar after only a few questions, waiting for his partner in crime to wake up.

Bdubs did the same when he woke up next, after a fair amount of panic-induced yelling that somehow didn’t wake anyone else up.

About 5 minutes later, Etho shot up without a word, effectively scaring the rest of them.

Once Zedaph woke up, he was smothered by a crushing hug, courtesy of Impulse. It was followed by a series of ‘YOU SCARED ME, MAN!’ And ‘NEVER DO THAT AGAIN.’

XB woke up like he had a nightmare, a really bad one. He couldn’t remember what it was, he just knew it was bad. By the time he was calmed down, Cleo woke up as well.

Iskall also woke up yelling, almost karate-chopped Grian in the face too. There were both laughter and apologies coming from the cyborg.

Tango waking up was like when Zedaph woke up, only twice as much hugs and twice as much yelling.

Joe waking up was much quieter in comparison, with only a few ‘hey’s to greet the wordy hermit.

The second to last was Scar, the poor man didn’t even get a chance to say anything before Cub and Bdubs practically pushed him around, checking if he was ok...even though none of them were injured, Scar was just THAT injury prone.

Mumbo waking up was the funniest in his eyes, but probably the scariest thing ever in Mumbo’s. He woke up and his face changed from fear, to relief, to confusion in a matter of seconds. Make sense, since he opened his eyes to be greeted by the sight of his friends’ faces surrounding him, staring menacingly. The mustached man simply laid there for a second and said,

“...Hi?”

Grian would say the experience was similar to seeing a newly opened exhibit at the zoo, quite the wonder.

After a few moments filled with genuine laughter from the hermits, Xisuma cleared his throat and grabbed the attention of every hermit. He began to explain what’s going on, with the help of Ren who woke up first.

All hell broke loose.

“What do you mean we can’t leave!?” Cub exclaimed, looking much more worried than the usual composed expression he always seems to have. Scar was standing beside him, body stiff as if it was too much to process.

“Wh— What’s going on?” Zedaph muttered quietly as his hands shook, Impulse trying to calm him down while Tango was also yelling out questions like Cub is doing. Not far from them, Cleo sounded more annoyed about the situation than anything.

Suddenly, a voice cut in.

“Guys, GUYS!”

Everyone turned to look at Joe Hills, who adjusted his glasses and walked to the middle of the group. He took a deep breath before speaking.

“I know this is one odd situation we’ve found ourselves in, but panicking won’t do us any better. Perhaps we should keep calm and share our knowledge or ideas, only then can we figure anything out.” He said, earning nods and agreements from the rest of the group. However, before that could go anywhere, a television screen slowly drops down from the ceiling (much to their confusion) before flicking on. The screen was black, save for a white smiley face. It just looks like one of those emoticons you’d type instead of an emoji.

“That would not be necessary.” Oh and it talks.

Quite a few hermits that weren’t paying attention to the television jumped at the robotic female voice, the screen also displayed subtitles of what it’s saying.

“Hello, Hermits. I am called HERMITS-ANNIHILATION-AND-REVIVAL-PROGRAM, but please call me HARP. I shall be the one conducting this experiment.”

“Experiment?” Grian heard someone mutter from behind, but he wasn’t focused on that part. It took a moment before what the robot said finally sank in. “Wait, did you say your name was ‘hermits annihilation and revival program’!?” He exclaimed, the smiling face on screen did not waver.

“Indeed, but please call me HARP for short.”

“That’s not the issue here!” Tango cried out, stepping forward ever so slightly. “What do you mean by annihilation and revival!? We’re going to need a better explanation than that!”

“Ah, yes.” HARP then disappears, allowing words to be displayed as it continues to speak. “Welcome to the HARP manor where this game shall be hosted. You will be given access to the whole place, including the outside. All food, clothings, and other essentials will be provided generously. There is also a swimming pool outside, beautiful trees and flowers, and the ocean view. Feel free to explore this place for further information regarding your new home.”

“Here, you will be subject to a game. With each 3 days, you will be asked to anonymously submit your or your friend’s name through your communicator, which will then be put into a randomizer. Whoever’s name was drawn, they will be sent to play a game that shall determine their fate. If they succeed, they will be allowed to join back with the rest of the group. If they fail, that means they either die during the game or will be killed as a result and will not be allowed to respawn.”

“Or at least, for now. The win conditions as a group is if you manage to beat everything we will be throwing at you with at least half of you left, we will allow the fallen to respawn. If not, they will be dead permanently.”

Grian could hear a few gasps, some ‘oh my god…’s and even a few curses. The heartless machine continued on.

“There are a few conditions you should be aware of, however. First, you are not allowed to leave the island premises, doing so will result in an immediate extermination. You are also not allowed to break the televisions, or any security cameras. Finally, you must report back to this room when I announce a meeting.”

The smiley face flashed back on the screen, while under the television, the floor slowly opened up. A table rises from the bottom with exactly 20 keys with a room number and their respective names on it.

“These are the keys to your rooms, please collect yours and go to your room whenever you desire. Your rooms will have unique items or qualities to them, so be sure to explore thoroughly. Oh, and GoodTimesWithScar?”

Scar flinched at the mention of his name, practically curling into himself. “Y-Yes?” He stuttered out, Grian can’t help but worry for his friend. Scar was never one for being in the spotlight despite literally being the mayor, and to be suddenly thrust into one by a robot that’s holding them hostage must be less than ideal.

“You in particular should do so as fast as possible, your companion is in there.”

“My companion?” Scar looks to be deep in thought. Grian could see his eyes widen before his body language did a 180. Scar dashed towards the table, looked for his key, and examined it for a second before he ran into the hallway opposite of the one he was in a moment ago.

“Scar!” Cub quickly ran after his friend, along with a few people followed him. Those people are Stress, Doc, Bdubs, and Wels. Grian also decided to follow them after a bit of consideration. He was just in time to see Scar in the room, hugging his one and only Jellie cat.

“I’m so glad you’re ok.” Grian could hear Scar said, petting Jellie gently. He could also see Cub’s shoulder falling with relief.

“I’m glad YOU are ok, Scar.” Cub sighed, moving out of the way so Scar and Jellie could come out of his room. The scarred man chuckled sheepishly, holding Jellie to his chest. “Seriously, what if the rooms were dangerous or something? You really have to be more careful, dude.”

“Sorry, I just got worried if she was ok or not is all.” Scar smiled sweetly, Jellie meowing in his arms. “Sorry if I worried you guys.”

“It’s alright.” Wels said, patting Scar in the back. “Although I think we should go back, everyone else is probably there. We could have missed a part of HARP’s speech, and that seems like it could be a deadly mistake.”

Doc scoffed, crossing his arms in annoyance at the mention of the robot. “What the hell is that thing even talking about anyway, we’re not playing along with its games right?” Grian absentmindedly nodded before he spoke himself.

“In any case, we should go back for now. Just to see what’s going on, you know?” And with that, the group make their way back just in time to see people leaving in different directions. His eye caught certain people staying behind, though.

“Hey Mumbo! Hey Iskall!” Grian smiled while walking up to the two, finally getting a chance to talk with his architech friends. Iskall and Mumbo turned around, waving him over. “Did something happen while we were gone?”

Iskall let out a huff. “Well, the damn HARP robot thing or whatever just said we get a day or two to relax and explore before the game begins or something. It also ‘wishes you all the best of luck in this game of life and death’, their words, not mine.” He explained, Mumbo nodding along.

“Oh! I nearly forgot!” Mumbo straightened up, reaching into his pockets and pulling it out. Mumbo then pushed the object into Grian’s palm. “It’s your keys, I figured I might as well grab yours for you.”

Grian’s face softened, shoving the key into his own pocket. “Thanks! Now, what do you think we should do first?”

Iskall let out a ‘hmmm’ but before he could say anything, Mumbo interrupted him. “Well, Xisuma said that we should take a look around, go to our rooms, and meet back later in about an hour to share what we found. He said maybe we could form a plan then, or at least a decision on what to do next.”

Grian couldn’t help but let out a small giggle as Iskall mumbled about ‘Mumbo stealing his thunder’ or something along those lines. The shortest among the group cleared his throat and looked around the room, which looks almost like nothing even happened here. “So...then where should we go?”

“I was hoping you guys have any suggestions, to be quite honest with you.” Mumbo deadpanned, looking towards Iskall. “What do you think?”

Iskall hummed some more before snapping his fingers. “How about we look outside first? Maybe there’s useful materials out there that we can work with later. How’s that sound?”

“Sure.”  
“Sounds good to me!”

“Great!” Iskall clapped his hands together before walking over to the front door, he opened it and moved aside. “After you, dear sirs.” He said, causing Grian to giggle some more while Mumbo replied with a ‘why, thank you!’.

This was the simple start to what will become a waking nightmare.

-2-0—H-E-R-M-I-T-S—R-E-M-A-I-N-I-N-G-


	2. INTERMISSION

Hello there, players. My name is GAME MASTER, but please, call me Creamer instead. 

I shall be the one overlooking this little experiment, although I do not have control over the entire game, and I will only exist behind the scene. This will be one of the only times I will talk to you directly.

Now, you all may wonder why you’re here, so I figured you are a little bit confused right now. I shall explain.

Welcome, players, to what will be known to you as Hiraeth. This is an interactive fanfiction where you will get to decide the participant’s choices through polls, riddles, questions, and more. The story will change according to your actions.

To put it shortly, you shall be playing a game.

So you may be asking, what will you get to decide? What kind of choices will be given to you? Well, the answer is that it depends, and you will get to decide some more directly than others.

I shall now explain that, along with other game mechanics and other notes. You may refer back to this chapter anytime, and ask any questions you have regarding the game.

**What will you get to decide?**

-Make a choice-

The participants won’t know this, of course, but a lot of things they do will be in your hands. There will be a few choices that may determine the fate of the participants or impact their lives in a major way, and you will get to decide it. 

Now keep in mind that the outcome may not always be what you expect and you will not be given what will happen if you pick either choice at the time, you cannot see into the future.

For example, if Stressmonster has to decide between going into the right hallway or going to the left hallway, and that choice will heavily impact their story, you will be asked to pick between right hallway and left hallway. However, you won’t know the outcome of your choice until I give you the next installment. If the majority of the comments picked the right hallway, the Stressmonster will choose to go right.

-Choose someone-

This one works similarly to the previous one, except this time instead of choosing what action someone will take, it’s who they’ll choose. This may be in both positive and negative contexts, depending on the situation. 

There is a mechanic that ties directly into this type of choice, so I shall explain it later.

-Success rate-

Instead of the comment section, the way this will work is that I will make a strawpoll and ask you to vote. I will set a number of votes you must reach to guarantee their success. If I ask for 50 votes, then the total votes of that particular poll must be more than 50 to make sure the participant succeeds.

If you fail to reach the goal, however, I will convert the votes needed and the votes that I got into success rate and use a wheel picker to determine the outcome. So if I asked for 50 votes and only got 47, I will count that as 40 and put 5 options into the wheel picker with 4 being success and 1 being failure.

Basically, you will have a 1 in 5 chance of failing. Only reached 39? 2 in 5 chances of failing and so on.

...

Oh, side note. For every decisions you get to make, I’ll tell you the alternate outcome of the poll/question in the next chapter. To let you know what could’ve been, I suppose.

———

**Fate system**

As you know, nothing in life is certain. There are some things that are out of our control, and we can’t change that no matter how hard we try. Some things are simply not up to choice. So...what does it mean for you, the players, and them, the participants?

What I refer to as the ‘Fate system’ is basically a randomizer. This system already determined each participant’s rooms and therefore, their items. It will also be this system that will draw a name of the participant who will be forced into a life or death challenge from the list of names that each participant put in beforehand, and so on.

The fate system will decide things that YOU, the players, cannot.

It will come into play continuously as our story goes on.

———

**Challenges**

Every challenge is unique, but they are not equal in terms of difficulty. The aforementioned fate system will pick a random challenge after a participant has been picked, and they will be given 10 minutes to prepare.

You, the players, will be the one who will either guide them to success, or to failure.

Each challenge has a different objective, different games. Some of them may require you to make a correct choice, succeed in the numbered poll, or even other unique actions entirely like solving a riddle or answering trivia. It depends.

A reminder that failing at these challenges WILL kill the participant playing, either right at the moment they failed or executed 10 minutes later. The less people alive, the less chances you’ll get to win and save everyone.

So, do your best.

———

**Relationships**

No, I don’t mean romantic.

Maintaining a good relationship with your friends is key for the hermits to win or at the very least, escape. There are a few groups that are close already like architects, convex, or team ZIT, for example. People with good relationships will trust each other more, they’ll be willing to share information, or risk themselves to save others from danger.

If the hermits relationships are generally good, you as the player will benefit from it as well. How? In various ways. Lore will be easier to figure out, people are less likely to get...irrational, and death will be less common. Cheering up people and keeping good morale is also easier!

If people get mad at eachother, which is kind of easy to do in a life or death situation, then there will be no teamwork. People will keep even more secrets from others than before, including you. So a good idea to keep everyone close-knitted.

Well...there IS one downside to having a good relationship…

But that will be explained more in due time.

———

**Freetime events**

If anyone played Danganronpa, there’s something called freetime events where nothing of plot relevance happens. You get to pick who to spend time with and build a friendship with them, along with learning about their backstory. It works similarly here.

Once in a while, the current protagonist (aka. POV.) will be given freetime. The chapter before you will get to choose someone to spend time with, the top 3 people will be featured and you can learn about them that way! (Oh, I forgot to mention that everyone has their own backstories based on popular headcanons, their personalities and such.)

You can choose to skip freetime events entirely for the sake of investigation instead, but remember that a good relationship with other participants will be important as well.

———

**Lore**

Well, you’ll have to figure this one out yourselves. BUT I will say that a few parts of the lore here is pretty common within hermitcraft fanfictions, and a lot of the participant’s backstories are also common within the fandom. Most of the backstories are definitely made up though, to be interesting.

Magic exists, but not strongly, and only to those who truly believe in it. The most important part of all, though, is that everything has a cost.

Huh? What about the other hermits not present? You’ll see soon enough.

———

I believe that’s about it for now, the following chapters shall be the continuation of this little game we’ve found ourselves in, along with something that will come in handy later for sure. Keep in mind that perspectives this story will follow may change at any time and probably will not stay on Grian forever, depending on the event we are following.

I hope you all have fun on this journey, and feel free to ask any questions at any time.

I suppose the only question I shall ask you to answer now is…

Are you ready for this game of life and death?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Are you ready?


	3. Chapter 1.1: Intuition, Assumption, Caution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Belief without doubt is simply a lie.” - Chiaki Nanami, Super Danganronpa 2

-2-0—H-E-R-M-I-T-S—R-E-M-A-I-N-I-N-G-

The first thing the three of them saw was a giant rectangular swimming pool, equipped with a diving board, a small water slide and some sun loungers near the pool. The air outside is fresh and the view of the ocean is deceivingly calming, if they were just on a vacation then this would have been amazing.

But alas, they were not.

While Mumbo and Iskall were bantering about chickens and bamboo or something, Grian looked over to see Etho by the edge of the pool. He was dangling his leg in the water, the trousers rolled up so that it wouldn’t get wet and his shoes laying next to him. Grian always thought of Etho as someone that was hard to read, but now? It was impossible.

“Hey, guys!” Grian interrupted their conversation, only to turn back and see Iskall pulling Mumbo’s mustache. “What are you— Nevermind, I don’t want to know.” Grian let out a chuckle before turning back towards the pool. “You guys go on ahead, I wanna talk to Etho for a bit.”

“Alright, Stay safe bro.” Iskall warned, Mumbo humming in agreement after he pulled Iskall’s hand away.

So Grian left the two to join his masked friend besides the pool, making his footsteps heavy on purpose so that it wouldn’t jumpscare him. (Though knowing Etho, he probably wouldn’t get scared.) He sat down next to him and leaned over slightly so he could see Etho’s face, or at least the part that was visible.

“Etho.” Grian called, his concerned tone probably giving away his worry. “Are you feeling ok?”

After a few seconds of silence, Etho continued to stare into the pool water, presumably at his reflection. Grian got even more concerned than he already was, and that said something considering the situation they’re in.

“Etho?”

“Beef’s not here.” Etho said, his voice could be described as ‘Calm before the storm’. He turned to face Grian, his face could almost be described as blank. “Beef isn't with us, neither is Jevin, or TFC, or Hypno.”

His gaze then moved back towards the still water of the pool. “What if something happened to them? Can we even be sure they’re alive at this point?”

He won’t lie, Grian didn’t have an answer. He wasn’t sure if the other missing hermits were safe, or if they were alive at all, but he couldn’t just say that Etho’s best friend might not be ok to him, it would crush the poor guy. What he needs right now is reassurance that everything will be alright, that nothing bad will happen to them or anyone else.

And even if Grian had a hunch that what he was going to say is a straight up lie, he did so anyway.

“Maybe they’re at home. We don’t know how we got here, so if we were abducted or something then maybe they weren’t around to be kidnapped. I mean, at the very least they can’t be in a much worse spot compared to us.” Grian gave Etho a pat on the back. “They’re strong people, I’m sure they’re safe. Hey! Maybe they’re coming to rescue us!”

Etho didn’t seem to believe him, but Grian could see his shoulders relaxing nonetheless. “Yeah, you’re right. Thanks, G.” Etho’s mask creases slightly, indicating a smile. The taller man kicked the water a little before pulling his legs up, rolling the leg of his pants down and slipping on his shoes. “I’m gonna go back inside, do you want to come with?”

Grian shook his head. “I have to catch up with Iskall and Mumbo, I’ll see you inside though!” Etho nodded before turning back into the mansion, not noticing Grian’s guilty gaze. Grian stood up, turning his head to look at his surroundings.

Now, where did Mumbo and Iskall go?

Grian decided to walk along the path that leads towards the seashore, but stopped to look at the giant flower beds besides the stone walkway, effectively framing the path in colors. The 2 flower beds seemed to have quite a few different flora, creating a rainbow gradient that ranges from one to another. Grian decided to go off course to take a closer look and learned that there were small signs for each type of flower, with only the names provided.

‘Red spider lily...orange dahlia...yellow carnation...venus flytrap? That last one isn’t even a flower, but I guess they needed the green somewhere.’ Grian thought to himself as he went to look at the opposite flower bed. 

‘Forget me nots...purple hyacinth...pink petunia...and finally, white daffodils.’ Hmm, it was interesting but Grian wasn’t sure if it would come in handy at all. Why did they color coordinate it anyway? And so specific, too. They do look very nice, though!

Grian walked back on the path and took a right turn, coming face to face with a small wooden shack. It certainly looks less fancy than the rest of the house, Grian was surprised it wasn’t taken up by a storm by now.

Against his better judgement, he flung the door open anyways. The interior was somehow even more underwhelming, with only basic gardening tools like a shovel, an axe, a few empty buckets, fertilizer and a few cans of paint. Nothing too out of the ordinary, still no Iskall and Mumbo, though.

Grian turned back and walk down towards the sea shore, taking in the incredible view. He wasn’t sure if stepping in the sea water would count as leaving the island premises or not, otherwise he would’ve done so already.

“Oh, there you are!” Grian turned around at the sound of Mumbo’s voice, seeing his friends walking along the sand towards him. “We’ve been looking for you!”

“Ah, sorry about that.” Grian smiled, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “Did you find anything back there at all? Or was this a total waste of time, because I haven’t found much other than flowers and a wooden hut.”

Iskall hummed. “As a matter of fact, we found a lighthouse! It looks like it isn’t working, but maybe we could use that to call for help or something after we do some maintenance. Better than nothing, right?”

“It did take a while for us to go up, though.” Mumbo shuddered at the memory. “So many stairs.”

Grian cracked a grin as Iskall burst out laughing, causing Mumbo so smile as well. Grian coughed into his fist. “Well, anyways. We should go look inside, and in our rooms too. We can tell the guys about the lighthouse when Xisuma calls a meeting.”

“Right, good idea.” With a small hum, Mumbo led the way back to the manor. He swung the door open, apologizing profusely to Joe and Cleo when the door almost hit Joe on their way out to the beach. The two didn’t seem to mind, as expected, and went on their merry way.

“Which room were assigned to you both, anyway?” Iskall asked while looking at the tag attached to his key. “Mine’s 303, I’m assuming that’s the third floor, room 3.”

“Oh! Mine’s third floor as well, room 6.” Mumbo mused, pocketing his own key. “Then we’re not that far from eachother, Iskall.” The two of them shared a hi-five as Grian looked at his own tag.

“Aw, come off it.” He sulked, disappointed about what he saw. “Mine’s 204, I’m on another floor entirely! This is rigged.”

His childish pout earned a laugh from his fellow architects, causing him to slowly but surely join in as well. It took a good minute for the giggling to cease. Mumbo was the first to regain composure. “I suppose we should go check our rooms out, then.”

“Wait, Mumbo.” Iskall managed to grab Mumbo by the sleeve of his suit, causing the taller man to turn around, perplexed. “Since HARP said that our rooms have something in there, what do you say about sharing whatever we find?”

Mumbo adjusted his tie, eyes never leaving Iskall as his friend spoke. Grian thought about it for a second before deciding to agree, it would probably be for the better, after all. “I’m cool with that.” He said, Mumbo nodded soon after.

“I don’t plan on keeping it a secret, anyway.” The mustache man huffed, crossing his arm. “That would be counterproductive.”

“Then it’s settled! We’ll meet back up in 10 minutes, then?”

“Yup!”

“Alright! Talk to you guys later!”

-2-0—H-E-R-M-I-T-S—R-E-M-A-I-N-I-N-G-

Grian opened the door into his room, locking it after he entered. The room itself doesn’t seem like anything special, other than the fact that it was very, very big. The size was comparable to that of a 4-person bedroom in a hotel room, but with only one bed. There was a bathroom, bathtub and shower included. The most notable thing about the room, however, was a security camera blinking away in the corner.

The brit scoffed, rolling his eyes before he threw open his closets. Inside were a few sets of his usual clothings and a few of his other outfits he’d worn during their various adventures in hermitcraft.

Grian considered going out to his personal balcony next but decided against it, at least for now, as the wind was blowing pretty intensely. So instead, the blonde went to look at the bed. The pillows were fluffy, thankfully, and the blankets seemed comfortable— Wait.

He stared at the item that fell from under the covers when he lifted up the blanket, tilting his head slightly. It was some kind of book, an old one. Grian bent down to pick up the book, thumbing the cover gently. The leather was clearly worn out, but he could just barely read the cover.

‘Journal’ it said, below the single word was ‘by’ and then a name, although it was scratched out so Grian couldn’t tell what it previously said. He weighed his options and decided to flip the book open, scanning the first page...well, at least the first he could see, a lot of it had already been torn out.

‘Day 147, Today was weird. I met up with XXXXX since we haven’t hung out in a while, since the last time the portal to other servers opened up actually. It’s been too long since XXXXX left, but it still feels like it was just yesterday.’

Grian furrowed his brows and continued reading, making sure he didn’t miss anything,

‘Anyways, this isn’t about that. XXXXX said that there’s some weird things going on, like bedrocks popping out of nowhere, animals or mobs being in the end where there shouldn’t be, huge chunks of land disappearing. It’s been a pain and no one knows why this is happening, we just hope it won’t get too out of hand otherwise we might have to world hop for a while. That’s it for today.’

Grian closed the book, setting it on his bedside table. He’ll get back to it after he goes back to meet up with everyone else later on, perhaps he’ll get more information. Maybe it will even answer some of the things in this ominous journal, and answer why they were there.

Maybe that was way too optimistic though.

Alas, he stood up and stretched his arms. Looking at the clock on the wall, he realized that it was only a few minutes until he had to meet back up with Mumbo and Iskall. With that, Grian slips his shoes back on and walks out the door, locking it behind him.

“Hey, Grian!” Grian turned at the sound of Tango calling him as he walked out of his own room with a big grin on his face, a slice of chocolate cake on a plate along with at least 3 forks in his hand. “You going down stairs?”

“Yup! I’m going to meet up with Mumbo and Iskall in a few minutes, probably going to look around the first floor too, since we haven’t had a chance earlier.”

“Oh, sweet! I’m going to meet up to look around with Impulse and Zedaph too, we didn’t get a lot done earlier to be honest.” Tango let out a laugh, but Grian’s attention was on the cake. He didn’t recall seeing food in the room, although there was a mini-fridge he didn’t check.

“Why do you have cake? I didn’t see any of that in my room.” He asked, Tango promptly lifted the plate up a little.

“Oh this? Apparently this is what I get as my item.” The red eyed man then grabbed one of the forks, offering it to Grian. “Do you want a taste? I was going to share this slice with Impy and Zed, but I’m sure they won’t mind if you have some! There’s still plenty left in my room.”

“You have more?”

“Yeah, it was a whole cake, with a second tier and everything! I had a slice already and it seemed safe, tasted really good too.”

Grian thought the offer over, it could be dangerous and it would be reckless to just eat something in a situation like this, but Tango DID eat it already and he was still here. Tango wouldn’t have a reason to lie, and from the frosting on the corner of his mouth that he neglected to mention to his fellow blonde, it was unlikely that he was lying anyway.

Besides, if he was going to give this Zedaph and Impulse then the cake is almost definitely safe. Those three have a friendship like no other, after all.

“I don’t see why not.” Grian finally answered, taking the fork from Tango. Grian looked at it for a moment before looking up, staring at Tango “But then you’ll only have 2 forks left.”

“I could just get more from my room, but I bet you anything one of those idiots will just use their hand.” Tango let out a fond sigh. Grian grinned, digging his fork into the slice of cake. “If you don’t mind.” He then popped a small piece into his mouth, beaming at the taste. “This is pretty good!”

“I know right!? I’m happy to give you a slice right now, if you want one?” Tango asked, but Grian shook his head at the offer.

“I’m alright, I might walk around some more so I don’t want to be distracted

“Ah, alright! The offer still stands though, in case you want one later.” Tango then asked the shorted boy to hold his plate as he quickly locked the door, taking it back soon after. “Let’s go downstairs, I bet our friends are waiting for us. I can’t really tell though, they’re not on this floor.”

“Ah, so the RNG was rigged against you as well.”

“Eeeyup.”

-2-0—H-E-R-M-I-T-S—R-E-M-A-I-N-I-N-G-

The short chat down the stairs between him and Tango wasn’t unpleasant, in fact, it was great! It only lasted for about a minute though, since Tango quickly waved goodbye and joined Zedaph and Impulse. The two were waiting for him in front of a fairly large pair of doors, and they all entered the room soon after, chatting animatedly about something Grian couldn’t hear.

Grian caught himself smiling fondly at the sight, those three were practically inseparable. Grian looked around for his own friends, before spotting them coming down the stairs. 

“Late much?” Grian called out and smirked smugly, causing Iskall to give him a good natured eye roll.

“Blame this guy.” Iskall nudged Mumbo with his elbow, the taller man let out a ‘hey’ but the cyborg paid him no mind. “He couldn’t find his item at first, so I had to go and help him.”

“Can you blame me?” Mumbo grumbled, hands going up to adjust his red tie in a nervous-slash-embarrassed manner. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out an extremely small silver key, holding it up for the Grian to see. “Mine was this tiny little key, how am I supposed to find this by myself? In the mini-fridge, no less.”

Grian leaned in to take a closer look, how interesting. “Huh, weird that it was in the fridge of all places. So...what does it open?”

Mumbo turned to look at Iskall, then back at the blonde. “I actually don’t know, there’s a note that comes with it but it only said that we’ll have to figure that out ourselves.” Grian nodded along, he guessed it was never going to be that easy.

“What about you, Iskall?” Grian tilted his head, staring at his swedish friend. The brunette let out a hum before answering. “Apparently, mine’s just a toolbox. It’s really basic, just some screwdrivers, a small hammer and things like that.”

“Really?” Grian was taken aback by how...common it seems. But then again, Mumbo has a key and they don’t even know what it does. “Mine’s an old journal, already written too.”

“A journal?”

“Yeah, I can show you guys later, I didn’t bring it down with me.”

With a curt nod, Iskall turned and pointed to a big door, the one opposite of the one team ZIT went through a few moments ago. “I think that’s the dining room and kitchen, according to what I heard in passing. Let’s go there first.”

“I don’t see why not.” Mumbo agreed, and Grian nodded as well. With a smile, Iskall turned around and led the three of them through the door.

The inside was as grand as the giant hall they were just in, with a chandelier hanging from the middle of the room, over the giant dining table beautifully. The kitchen wasn’t in it’s own room but rather an area in the dining room, with kitchen island and a few barstools. There was even a bar in here, no one was there to make drinks but it was there.

“There’s exactly 20 seats at the dining table, 10 on each side.” Mumbo observed out loud. “It was probably prepared for exactly 20 of us beforehand, since the room seems to be designed perfectly for this very long table, the kitchen and the bar.”

“So what I’m getting from that is this room was designed with that in mind?” Grian asked, earning a nod from his friend.

“At least, that’s what I think. Maybe not specifically us since there’s nothing to indicate that, but 20 people, yes.”

“What about those barstools though?” Iskall cut in, gesturing at the 5 barstools at middle island, and then the other 5 at the bar. “If we count those then it would be 30, that’s way more than us.” Grian took a moment to ponder Iskall’s words, but quickly refuted it.

“I don’t think it matters, right? Since the main table has 20, the other chairs can be for other occasions.”

“Hmm, I see your point.” Iskall said before looking slightly up at the corner of the room, letting out a sigh. “Looks like there are still cameras and TV screens everywhere.”

Grian and Mumbo looked up to where Iskall was looking and sure enough, a security camera in the corner and the screen on the wall opposite the kitchen. The positioning was so that everyone at the table could turn to watch it easily.

Grian doesn’t like that.

“Unfortunate.” Mumbo muttered, Grian and Iskall both murmured some sort of agreement.

“What are you guys talking about?”

Several things happened in that moment, Mumbo screamed out of surprise, Iskall also screamed as a reaction to that, so Grian screamed too. His hand may or may not swing to smack the person in the face out of instinct, luckily for the both of them, the man ducked and narrowly avoided the palm.

“Woah! Stop, STOP! It’s just me!”

“Bdubs! You scared the bejesus out of us!” Grian exclaimed while Bdubs adjusted his red headband after the sudden dodge he had to do messed it up. “Sorry about the hand, though.”

Bdubs gave him a bright smile, paying no mind to Iskall laughing hysterically in the background as Mumbo recovered. “Nah, It’s fine! Dodging and weaving is one of my specialties!” The man said bubblily, puffing his chest out.

Classic Bdubs, really.

“What are you doing here alone anyways, Bdubs?” Asked Mumbo, fully recovered from the scare earlier.

The bandana clad man glanced around the room for a second before answering. “I’m looking for Doc. He’s not in his room so I’m just walking around trying to find him, you guys see him around?”

“I haven’t, I just walked down here with Tango.” Grian recalled.

“I’m pretty sure I saw him walk into his room.” Iskall mused, thinking back. “But if you said you can’t find him there then I don’t know, I last saw him before I went into my own room.”

Bdubs looked disappointed, but then his eyes brightened as he pulled out their communicator. “I can’t believe I forgot this was a thing! Gimme a second.” Then soon after, the architects heard a small ding on their communicators, Grian grabbed his and decided to watch the conversation as Bdubs typed away.

Has anyone seen Doc?  
I don’t believe so, is he missing?  
He was on the beach last I saw em  
It wasn’t that long ago he might still be there  
I’ll check, thanks Cleo!

With that, without even as much as a goodbye, Bdubs quickly rushed out the room and presumably to the shore. Grian shoved the communicator in his pocket, glancing at Mumbo and Iskall who basically mirrored his action.

“Well, that was something.” Iskall commented, Grian was concerned though. Was Doc alright? Before he could say something, however, another hermit walked into the room.

“Hello gentlemen!” Xisuma greeted, waving his hand as he entered. “The meeting is in a few minutes, you can get snacks if you wish.” Their admin then walked up to the kitchen, got a glass of water and went to sit at one of the chairs. 

“Already? Time flies.” Iskall mused, Mumbo’s shoulder sags from the claim.

“Really? It felt like years to me.”

“You’re just mad you couldn’t find the key.” Grian commented, earning yet another laugh from Iskall and yet another ‘hey!’ from Mumbo. The builder went to take a seat as Iskall walked to look in the fridge, Mumbo following not far behind.

Now time to wait once again.

-2-0—H-E-R-M-I-T-S—R-E-M-A-I-N-I-N-G-

After a few more minutes (and a reminder from X in the chat), other hermits begin to file in. Tango, Zedaph and Impulse arrived first since they were already relatively close by. XB and Keralis also didn’t take too long to arrive, only about a minute after team ZIT. Stress, False, Joe and Cleo also entered the room as a group.

That concludes the normal entrances.

Next was Etho, Bdubs and Doc. The latter was absolutely sopping wet from head to toe, with only a towel around his shoulder.

“What happened?” Stress asked, standing up from her seat. She was about to check on him, but Doc held out a hand to stop her in her tracks. “I was just testing something, I can explain later. No need to worry though, I’m fine.”

With that, Stress nodded and sat back down.

Ren and Wels walked in soon after, looking pretty happy. Ren had a flower crown on his head and Wels had some in his hands, offering some to whoever wants them. Grian noticed that the flowers weren’t in the flowerbeds, but the ones that grew on the ground naturally.

Finally, Cub opened the door only for Jellie to run in and took one of the 2 empty seats. Scar also walked in after, mouthing ‘thank you’ to Cub who held the door open. The man was back in his cowboy costume, looking exhausted.

Scar tiredly but gently picked Jellie up and put her in his lap before sitting down. According to Cub, Jellie had been frantically running around Scar’s room and both he and Cub had to chase her down, making sure she won’t destroy anything. Grian could see one of Wels’ flower crowns being passed to Scar from one end of the table to the other, presumably as some sort of consolation.

Now that everyone was here though, Xisuma coughed into his fist to grab everyone’s attention before starting to speak.

“Alright, now that we’ve done some exploring and getting items from our rooms. We’ll be sharing what we found, who would like to go first?”

“I can go.” Wels raised up his hand. He stood up from his seat to lay down a few pieces of paper on the table, or rather, maps and floor plans. Grian, along with a few others, leaned over to take a closer look.

There was one for each floor, one for the whole island and a few unknown ones where only the shape of the rooms are clear cut. Some of the floor plans have notes scribbled on them, such as their names on their respective rooms.

“I wrote some notes with a pencil while exploring the place, feel free to write anything you find down. Wels smiled, placing a pencil down on the table as well. Xisuma picked up one of the papers, looking through it.

“This is good work, Wels!” He complimented the knight, placing the floor plan back down. “This will be useful to the group for sure”

“No worries, anything that will help us get out of here.” Wels stated, sitting back down. “Anything I found is on there, but there’s not a lot, unfortunately.”

“It’s fine, I’ll write down any information the rest of you share here then.” X picked up the pencil before looking up, scanning the table. “We could just go down the line, I suppose. False?”

The blonde girl glanced to the side in an unreadable expression before it morphed back into the stoic, calm one she wore often in a serious situation. “I investigated the lighthouse earlier, the light was broken but it didn’t look like it was completely destroyed.”

“Interesting.” Xisuma nodded, mostly to himself. “What about your item?”

“I...I don’t have one.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Cleo questioned, not accusatory, it’s more of a confused tone of voice.

“I couldn’t find mine.”

“But didn’t the HARP or whatever its name was told us there’s one unique property to each room?” Ren asked, looking towards his friend. “Maybe you just missed it.”

“Maybe.” False agreed, looking thoughtful. “But I looked everywhere and there wasn’t one, and my room doesn’t seem like there’s anything weird about it either. I don’t know…”

Grian could see some people looking at her, some full of concern, some with suspicion. But then suddenly, Xisuma broke the few seconds of awkward silence.

“Truth to be told, I have not found my own items, either.” He said, tapping the pencil to where his chin would be if it weren’t for the helmet. “I thought it was just me, so I was going to mention it during my turn. It seems relevant now, though.”

Etho cleared his throat, putting attention on himself. “I also don’t have one.”

Xisuma closed his eyes, thinking. “Alright, so may everyone without an item raise their hand so we can count and hear from everyone?” After he said that, several hands shot up. There was False, Xisuma and Etho that already admitted to it, but there was also Bdubs, Joe, Cub and Scar.

“We’re still not sure if Jellie is Scar’s quote-unquote ‘Item’, though.” Cub added, looking to Scar who was idly petting his cat with one hand. Xisuma nodded in acknowledgement.

“Alright so that’s definitely 6 people at the very least, maybe 7 if we count Scar.”

“Excuse me, I hope you don’t mind if I add on.” Mumbo also spoke up, leaning a bit closer to speak clearly. “I took a long time to find mine because it was hidden in the fridge of all places, so maybe that’s the case for you guys as well? Small item that was hidden.”

Joe seems to agree, to a degree. “Maybe so, after this meeting we should search a bit more. For now though, let's just continue.” Grian didn’t say anything but as much as he loves his fellow hermits, he had a few suspicions.

The robot claimed that everyone has something unique to their room, but up to 7 hermits said they didn’t have one. Was this a coincidence? Or was it a lie?

Was it wrong to doubt his friends?

Maybe he should voice his concern...

Before that could go anywhere, the next person, Stress, started talking. “Apparently, this is me item, or whatever it is.” She held up a card in her hand, reading it aloud.

“To whoever receives this card, congratulations! You have received the immunity card. For this card to be active, you must use it before the round’s voting time. If you do, no one will be able to nominate you for the challenge for 3 rounds. If you don’t and your name was picked, you cannot use it to get out of the challenge. You can only use this once. Be wise.”

Everyone went silent, much to Stress’s clear dismay. Everyone probably realized what this meant for the game, for the rest of the hermits. What caught his interest though, was how nervous Zedaph also seemed by the situation.

Their savior was Mumbo, who quickly stated his item before the air could get anymore tense. He showed the group his key, which prompted Doc to reveal that his item was a locked suitcase before his turn since it seemed relevant.

Despite the excitement in the crowd of maybe figuring something out, it quickly dwindled once they tried and realized it wasn’t the right key.

They skipped Xisuma and went straight to Ren, who had a small piece of paper with him. “This is a note with a cryptic message on it, I don’t know what it means though.” He started, pushing his sunglasses up a little. “It said ‘Magic mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all? Make no mistake, big or small, or it’s you who shall fall.’...And that’s it”

“Wait! My item’s a piece of mirror! This must have something to do with it.” Cleo exclaimed excitedly, placing a small piece of mirror that was wrapped in her handkerchief. It was sharp, shattered from some other mirror.

“I still don’t get what the note meant.” XB, who hasn’t really spoken since he got here mumbled. “But maybe we need to do something with the mirror to find out?”

“Putting it on the wall, maybe?” Keralis suggested, so Cleo handed him the mirror and he put it up against the wall. Nothing.

“Well, That’s that.”

Impulse shot Joe a small smile before taking in a deep breath. “I guess this means it’s my turn.” The brunette stood up, looking quite tense. “Now I’m going to need you guys to trust me and don’t freak out, alright?”

Among nods and agreement, Doc asked quite cautiously. “Where is this going…?”

Then, Impulse whips out a gun.

The whole room erupts into a mix of ‘oh my god’, ‘what the heck’, and screams.

“Stop, STOP! Calm down!” Impulse yelled, as if he’s not holding a revolver. “It’s not loaded! And I don’t have bullets, so I don’t know what they want me to do with this.”

After that, everyone calmed down a little. Impulse let out a relieved sigh, looking back to smile at Tango who put a hand on his back as emotional support. As Impulse sat back down, Tango spoke up.

“Mine’s a 2 tier chocolate cake.”

“That’s it?” Wels questioned, tilting his head. Tango replied with a curt nod. “Considering what other people had, that almost seems too mundane. No offense, of course.”

“No, It’s fine.” Tango bit out, closing his eyes. Grian decided to say something. “Well, I did see him coming out of his room with chocolate cake. He offered some to me too! It was really good, actually.”

Grian saw Tango shot him a grateful smile, and automatically smiled back.

“Alright.” Xisuma nodded in acknowledgement. “Cub, Scar, and Joe already said they haven’t found theirs, and Cleo said hers too. So let’s hear from you, Iskall.” The swede then told the group that his was a toolkit, and swiftly moved on to Grian himself.

“A journal?” Scar tilted his head, intrigue.

“Yeah, I didn’t bring it down with me but I’ll be happy to lend it if you guys want to read it yourself.” Grian offered, he didn’t care for keeping secrets much anyways. “I only read the first page, though.”

It seems to be good enough for the group to move on. “Fair enough, Keralis?”

“Ah yes, I have these polaroids.” Keralis laid them down on the table. There’s a group photo of the hermits present here, which Grian didn’t remember taking, and one of the mansion. The one that caught his attention was...the void? Or what he assumed was the void, since he can see a bit of endstone there.

Bdubs asked for the polaroid of them, one of them was quickly passed to him. “We never took this photo, right? Or am I just imagining things.” Doc who was next to him took a closer look as well, trying not to get the photo wet. “No, you’re right. We never took this.”

“And this?” Mumbo held up the polaroid of the void. “How was this picture even taken!? Where did it even come from!?”

“This is just confusing...we can talk about it later we find out more about this place, I suppose. There’s nothing much we could do about it, anyways.” X said reluctantly, placing the picture of the mansion back on the table. “Who’s next.”

“That would be me.” XB raised his hand. “I didn’t bring it with me but I got a laptop. There’s nothing on it though, no programs, no signal, no internet. It works, but it couldn’t really do anything.”

“This will be useful later for sure. Next up, Zedaph.”

The tall blonde flinched at the mention of his name, looking around the table and immediately looked down once he realized the eyes were now on him. Grian see Tango mumbling something to Impulse, but couldn’t hear it.

“You’ve got this.” Impulse said to Zedaph from across the table, which seems to give him a bit more courage.

Zedaph took a deep breath and grabbed the card from his pocket, the fact that it looks the same as Stress’ didn’t bring Grian any comfort and suddenly he realized why Zedaph has been so nervous.

“Mine’s this card…It said ‘To whoever receives this card, congratulations! You have received a get out of jail card, whenever your name is drawn from the machine, it will automatically be skipped and pick someone else. This card only works once and will be useless afterwards.’...”

Zedaph’s violet eye darts up, glancing slightly up to look at the others. It wasn’t too far off from when Stress told the group what it was, and Grian even saw her shooting Zedaph a knowing frown. He could also see Cub whispering to Scar, and Etho avoiding eye contact with everyone.

“Thank you, Zedaph.” Xisuma sighed, they were nearly done. “Since Etho and Bdubs didn’t have any items, and Doc already—”

“Wait a second, X.” Doc cut the former admin off, raising a hand slightly. “I already showed you guys my item but I do have some other information, it’s why I’m absolutely drenched right now.”

“Oh! Of course, go ahead.”

“I asked HARP while I was in my room if we could go into the ocean and apparently we can up to a certain limit, so I dived down to see if there’s anything noteworthy there.” Doc continued, gripping the towel around his shoulder. “There was no conduit, but I swam for a while and not a single drowned spawned.”

“I see, so are you saying mobs can’t spawn here?” Impulse asked, the creeper hybrid nodded in return. “Well, at least the aggressive ones, I think I spotted a few fishes down there.”

Xisuma nodded. “Thank you, Doc! We got some good information today, so I think we can find a way to get out, or at least get by in no time! We just gotta work as a team and stick together.”

Grian didn’t have the heart to tell him that he was probably a bit too optimistic. However, his optimism was what lifted the tense atmosphere, even if it’s just a little. Tango and Bdubs let out an enthusiastic ‘yeah!’ and ‘We can do this!’.

Just like that, the meeting was basically over. Most hermits decided to stay in the dining room though, with some still chatting at the table and some took to a corner to do so.

He saw Cub practically dragged Scar to the kitchen, convinced the scarred man to cook with him while Jellie was walking not too far away. Bdubs sat at one of the barstools, watching the two cook with a grin. Team ZIT was still chatting with Mumbo and Iskall at the table with Grian himself, even if he wasn’t paying much attention.

It brought Grian some twisted sense of peace, seeing everyone that was on edge just a few moments ago suddenly relax.

Still, he couldn’t shake the odd feeling.

Some of them were lying, he could just feel it. Maybe he should tell someone, before something bad happens.

-2-0—H-E-R-M-I-T-S—R-E-M-A-I-N-I-N-G-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should Grian tell someone about his suspicions? You have 3 options. You could tell someone, you could accuse someone, or you could keep it to yourself.
> 
> If you want to tell someone, who should you tell?
> 
> Or maybe you should accuse someone openly for the sake of transparency? Who should you accuse, then?
> 
> If not, well, you’ll just have to live with that…


	4. Chapter 1.2: Love all, Trust a few

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “There are different ways of being strong.” - Pearl, Steven Universe.

ANSWER PROCESSING…  
…

TELL SOMEONE

Mumbo, Iskall and Xisuma all tied! Usually, I would use the aforementioned ‘fate system’ and pick just one. This time, though, I decided to do something else about the tie. Alternate routes will be at the end note, I hope you enjoy!

-2-0—H-E-R-M-I-T-S—R-E-M-A-I-N-I-N-G-

Grian considered his options.

Within minutes of the meeting coming to a close, Grian began running through his options in his head as he tried to search for the best solution to his inner turmoil. Eventually, he came to a conclusion.

He should tell someone.

Grian looked to his fellow architects, who were still chatting away with team ZIT. He could trust them, he was sure, but he don’t know what they’d be able to do about it even if they knew...And then there’s Xisuma. It only makes sense, he is their admin so if he knew, he can take precautionary measures.

It only made sense if he told all 3 of them, right?

That’s why he sent them private messages, asking them to meet him in about 10 minutes in his room.

Luckily for him, Tango, Impulse and Zedaph didn’t notice Mumbo and Iskall peering at their communicator, or if they did they didn't question it. He could also see Xisuma shooting him a glance from the corner of the room. Perfect.

“Oh yeah, have you guys seen the view from your balcony?” Tango asked the group, Grian guess it was one of his attempts to lighten up the mood, or to be more specific, to cheer the down-trodden Zedaph up. “My side is really beautiful, the wind was blowing a bit hard but honestly it was worth ruining my hair for.”

“You actually stepped outside?” Iskall gasped. “Dude.”

“What can I say? I like living life on the edge.”

Impulse, who was besides Tango, lightly punched his friend in the arm as the red-eyed boy let out a barely-contained set of giggles. Grian could see Impulse rolled his eyes good-naturedly before he sniffed the air.

Impulse turned towards the kitchen “What are you guys cooking over there? Smells good!”

The convex, who was in the kitchen, looked up perfectly in sync. Cub waved at them as he worked the pan, while scar stirred the mixture next to him feverishly. It was messy, but Grian must admit that it smelled really nice. Cub, smiling from ear to ear, answered. “Thank you, we’re making pancakes! It shouldn’t be too long until we’re done, if you guys want one.” The bearded man offered, receiving cheers of excitement from the table.

“Why are you 2 making pancakes at 3 in the afternoon, though?” Asked Bdubs, who has been sitting at the kitchen island, watching the pair cook this entire time.

“Oh sweet Bdubs, there’s never gonna be a bad time for pancakes.” Scar chided light-heartedly in response. “Besides, it’s easy to make.”

“You burnt an entire batch when we were in hermitcraft.”

“We don’t talk about that.”

Grian looked at them fondly, but the small smile was short lived as he was reminded of the predicament they’re in. Right, this isn’t hermitcraft

He needs to hurry.

“I gotta go.” Grian suddenly said to the table, standing up and pulling at his signature sweater. 

“Going already?” Impulse asked, tilting his head slightly. The blond nodded with a reassuring grin, before standing up from his seat. “There’s still something I need to check in my room, so I’ll be there if you need me.”

“Alright, stay safe!”

After Grian excused himself from the table, he decided to just head straight back to his room for now, he might as well get a head start, right? The brit walked out the door, unaware of a pair of eyes following him as he did so…

-2-0—H-E-R-M-I-T-S—R-E-M-A-I-N-I-N-G-

Grian closed the door to his room, instinctively locking it behind him. He scanned the room for a second before he walked over, grabbed the journal, and walked into the balcony.

Tango was right, the view was pretty great. The balcony itself was spacious enough to house a small circular table and a chair facing towards the beach and lighthouse, coupled with the wind, now blowing lightly, makes it a quiet and calming place.

Perfect for reading, with a cup of tea, perhaps.

For now, though, he’s going to make do with no tea. Grian sat down at the chair, flipping the journal to the next page. Between this and the previous only seems to be missing 1 or 2 pages, despite the first 10 or so being torn off completely.

‘Day 149, XXXXX asked to meet me today again to talk about stuff in person. I didn’t think much of it, but she seemed pretty worried when I finally found her. Apparently she couldn’t find XXX X and XX, they’ve been missing for days now. I helped her look, but we couldn’t find them anywhere. I hope they’re ok.’

Grian’s brows were drawn together as he read, it was starting to get confusing and to be frank, concerning. What happened? How was he going to find anything out if there was little to no information provided?

His frustration was interrupted by the knock on his door. Grian quickly went back into his room, placed the journal under his pillow and went to answer the door. Sure enough, it was Mumbo, Iskall and Xisuma.

“You called?” Iskall asked, to which Grian nodded and stepped aside, letting them into his room before he shut the door. The three of them didn’t go too far though, simply standing there and watching Grian as he locked the door once again.

“What’s this about, Grian?” Xisuma asked, perplexed. “You look worried since the meeting downstairs, is something the matter?”

At that, Grian let out a sigh. Looks like his silent distress hadn’t gone unnoticed, after all. But then again, this was Xisuma they were talking about, he tends to notice if someone is unwell both physically and mentally.

Grian looked at the worried faces of his friends and took a deep breath, he had come this far, he should— no, he needs to tell them.

“I think,” Grian paused for a second, searching for the correct word. “About that meeting, I think someone’s lying, about their item I mean.” He said, avoiding eye contact. He continued explaining. “I don’t have any proof, and I don’t know who but...I just felt it and I had to tell someone. I figured you 3 would trust me.”

After a moment of silence, Grian finally looked up to see the 3 looking at each other. Finally, Iskall spoke up.

“Well, can’t say I have suspicions or anything but I do think it’s definitely possible.” The cyborg pondered, his finger tapping his chin in a thoughtful manner. “It’s hard to say in this kinda situation, people are going to act differently.”

Xisuma seems to be in deep thoughts as well, only nodding as Iskall’s words. The armored man then turned towards Grian, smiling under the helmet. “I did suspect that not everyone was going to tell the truth, but I’m surprised you brought it up. Honestly, I suggested the meeting to at least get some sort of teamwork going, for the most part.”

“So...what do we do now? We don’t really know who exactly is lying, right?” Mumbo cut in, looking towards X for answers. Xisuma then closed his eyes, letting out a long hum.

“I don’t know if there’s anything we can do, at least for now.” He concluded. “We can’t go around accusing people, any sort of conflict between us hermits should be avoided as much as possible.”

“Yeah…” Grian agreed. “It could spell doom for us.”

X nodded in agreement before he continued “However, it wouldn’t hurt to have our eyes peeled for anything odd. Keep a close eye on everyone but don’t make any rash accusations, it’s entirely possible that your suspicions are not correct.”

“So we just watch?” Iskall raised a brow. “I’m not saying I don’t trust the hermits but...isn’t that a bit risky?”

“We don’t exactly have a better option, the last thing we want is distrust.” The admin explained. Mumbo hummed in agreement before speaking up as well. “Let’s keep this to ourselves for now, if we find something odd then we can meet up again to discuss it.”

“Sounds good. What do you say, Grian? Iskall?”

“I don’t have a reason to disagree, I guess.” The swede smiled, turning towards Grian as if he was waiting for his answers...which he probably was.

“Yeah, is it settled then?” Grian asked, tilting his head slightly.

“It’s settled.”

-2-0—H-E-R-M-I-T-S—R-E-M-A-I-N-I-N-G-

Mumbo, Iskall, and X waved Grian goodbye as they left his room. Grian was asked if he wanted to come with them, but he declined. There was something he needed to think about, just a little more. He needed more time.

But as the world would have it, he wasn’t going to get that time today. About 10 minutes after his friends left, Grian heard another knock at the door. He let out a small huff before he walked up and swung the door open.

“Scar?”

His scarred face grinned at Grian brightly, which cheered Grian up a bit despite the oddly melancholic feeling that the journal gave him. Scar was like that, he has the power to make things just a bit better with a few encouraging words or an uplifting smile.

Grian envied him sometimes.

“That’s me!”

“Is there something you need?”

At that, Scar shook his head. The brunet raised the plate in his hands that Grian failed to notice somehow, showing off the newly made pancakes that he and Cub made a few moments ago.

“I saw that you left early, so I just wanted to check if you’re ok and bring you some food.” He stated, looking at the plate of pancakes before looking back down at Grian. “Can I come in?”

The blond smiled. “Of course.”

Grian stepped aside once again to let his fourth guest walk in, Scar did so briskly and went to set the plate on the coffee table, Jellie walking in not too far behind. Grian closed the door and locked it once more before he too walked over towards his former play-enemy, watching as Scar poured syrup that Grian assumed was from his own mini bar.

“Wait, I forgot to ask if you like syrup or not. I’m sorry.” Scar apologized. “If you don’t like them I can go down to get another plate for you, if you want—”

“No, No. Scar.” Grian raised up a hand and cut Scar off, preventing Scar from jumping the gun any further. “I’m fine with syrup, you don’t need to do that.”

Scar let out a sigh of relief. Grian gestured for the other to take a seat on the sofa before he sat down himself, the shorter of the two cut into the pancake and bit into it.

“This is really good, I love it! Glad you didn’t burn it this time.”

“Again, that was one time!”

Grian let out a chuckle before the room fell into silence for a few minutes, neither of them made a sound as Grian continued to eat. Finally, though, Scar spoke up.

“So...are you alright?” He asked all of the sudden, causing Grian to pause and slowly place the now half eaten plate of pancakes back onto the table. Where did that question come from all of the sudden?

“Yeah? Why’d you ask?” He asked back, his hesitant tone probably didn’t do much to ease Scar’s concern.

“You weren’t really acting like yourself back at the meeting.” Scar frowned. “Or afterwards, for that matter. You barely said a word.”

Maybe Scar was right, but...

“Neither have you.”

Part of Grian regretted his response immediately as he watched Scar wince, Jellie pawed at his foot until Scar picked her up. The scarred man pet her a few times before looking back up.

“I’m just...worried.”

“Don’t worry, the meeting ended up being pretty tense so you’re probably not the only—”

“No.” Scar shook his head slowly, his hand that was petting Jellie matched the pace. “It’s— It’s not about the meeting, it’s not even really about us being stuck here.”

“Oh?” Grian raised a brow, curious. What else could be bothering his friend this much? “Then what is it?”

Scar averted his eyes, biting his lips, both of which are a tell-tale sign that he was nervous or worried. Grian’s gaze softened, maybe he shouldn’t push the matter so much.

“Look, Scar.” Grian placed a hand on his shoulder. “You know you could tell me anything, but if you don’t want to, I’ll understand.”

Scar looked back at him before turning his head away, a sigh escaped his mouth and his eyes fell closed, like he was collecting himself. Grian’s hand was still sitting on his shoulder, comforting his friend.

“It’s just— You know how I am, I’m not smart like Mumbo or Cub, I’m not strong like False and Doc, I get hurt over and over again back at hermitcraft.” Grian could see Scar’s hands begin to tremble, the one that was petting Jellie slowed down even more. “I’m not good with people like you or Ren, either.”

Grian knew exactly where this was going, Grian used to feel exactly like this back in highschool, after all.

No, he shouldn’t jump to conclusions quite yet. He needs to listen to Scar.

“I don’t know, what if I end up holding everyone back? What if I end up putting you guys in danger?” Grian watched as green eyes suddenly filled with unshed tears. His voice cracked, but Scar continued anyways. “I’m gonna get one of you killed.”

Grian’s heart sank.

He let Scar sob, once, twice, before he decided that the best thing he could do now was pull his friend into a hug. He felt tears damping his sweater but paid them no mind, comforting his friend will always come first.

After a solid minute or 2, Scar pulled back. Hands wiping at his face, Scar mumbled. “Sorry, sorry...I shouldn’t have done that.”

“No, Scar, stop apologizing.” Grian said firmly, both hands gripping the other’s shoulder. “You’re never, and I mean never, going to be a burden on us. You always look out for everyone’s well-being, the fact that you decided to come here and check up on me proves it.”

“But—”

“No. No ‘but’s.” Grian interrupted. “You’re as important as everyone else here, alright?”

Grian didn’t know if Scar fully believed him, but the small smile gave him hope that Grian did change his mind. At least a little bit.

“Thank you.”

“Does Cub know? Does anyone know?”

Scar smiled sheepishly at the question. “Not really, I wasn’t exactly planning to tell anyone.” Grian sighed, he didn’t know what else he was expecting to be honest. These things weren’t easy to just talk about suddenly, Grian should know that better than anyone.

“It’s ok, take your time.”

Grian said, trying not to pay too much mind to the way Scar’s shoulder still tensed up.

-2-0—H-E-R-M-I-T-S—R-E-M-A-I-N-I-N-G-

Time passed, most of which was spent in comfortable silence. Grian and Scar exchanged a few words, watching as Jellie walks around like she owns the place. Suddenly, though, the TV switched on, causing Jellie to jump back and hiss at the screen.

“Greetings, Hermits.” Said HARP, the smiley face almost looked like it was mocking them. “It is now dinner time, please report back to the dining hall for your first official dinner time.”

Grian let out an annoyed sigh, standing up and stretched his body after sitting for a while. Scar mirrored his actions, picking up Jellie from the floor. The cat purred, tucked comfortable in her owner’s arm. “Shall we go?”

With a nod, they left the room and downstairs. It seems like they were the last ones there. The table was full of different food that definitely wasn’t there before, and it certainly wasn’t prepared by any of the hermits. They certainly wouldn’t have enough time to cook all of this, even if they all work on a dish each.

“Ah, you finally came!” Xisuma waved at them, then gestured to the empty seats. It was the same seat they took during the meeting, just as he thought. Grian walked over and took one, looking at the other hermits.

“So...where did all this come from?” He asked, pointing at the food. “Last I was here there were only pancakes.”

“You know when the table rises from the group earlier today?” Cleo explained, and continued to do so after a nod from Grian and Scar. “So the table descended down into the floor for about 5 minutes and raised back up with these.”

Huh. Interesting. Grian picked up a piece of chicken drumstick, examining it skeptically. Looks like he wasn’t the only one who’s hesitant, as most of his server mates did the same. “Are we sure this isn’t poisoned?” He asked.

Then once again, the television screen sparked to life.

“Welcome, hermits, to your first official dinner time. Do not worry, we know what you all must be thinking. All of the food is safe, HARP has no reason to hurt you outside of the game so feel free to eat anything provided to you.”

Grian looked at Bdubs in amusement as the latter very dramatically rolled his eyes.

“However, there is a reason for the dinner tonight, for this will be the first ‘voting banquet’ of many.” The smiley face disappeared, replaced by words on the screen. It was some sort of instructions and information that it was also reading aloud.

“VOTING BANQUET is a dinner that will happen every 3 days after each challenge arranged by HARP that will begin once everyone alive sits down, and will last for an hour. During this time, every single person can get a chance to speak and make a case for themselves on why they should or should not be voted.”

He heard a “I feel sick” whimpered from somewhere within the table. Grian didn’t say anything, but he agreed.

“Everyone alive must anonymously submit 1 name each through your communicator to put them into the system before the hour runs out, otherwise there will be severe punishments. The next afternoon, you will all gather in the main hall. It is then that I, HARP, shall draw 1 name from the pile, so to speak. That person then will be sent to face a life or death game, with 10 minutes to prepare.”

The table whispered amongst themselves, some exchanging worried glances. The heartless AI only turns its screen back into the cruel, unhinged smiley face.

“Your time starts...now.”

The screen turns into a timer, counting down. And just like that, the room was sent into the state of panic.

“Alright, ALRIGHT!” Xisuma yelled, standing up. Everyone turned to stare at him, some more surprised than others, but at least no one was screaming anymore. “Panicking won’t do us any good, let’s just...calm down and talk about this.”

“Yeah...you’re right” Stress nodded in agreement. “But what do we do? It’s not like we’ve done enough individually to ‘make a case’ or whateva’”

Xisuma thought about it, but Cub raised a hand. After X nodded towards him, Cub spoke up. “We may not have a lot to go off of, but I think if anyone has a case to make for themselves or even someone else based on facts, that’s at least better than nothing.”

“H-Hold on a sec.” Tango, red eyes scanning the room as he stuttered out his words. “Are we actually going to do this? This is— This is messed up!”

“It is, but it has been messed up from the beginning.” Xb surprised everyone by speaking up, sounding firm in his assessment despite his soft tone. “It’s just too dangerous to blindly vote or to try and defy what that AI said, there’s no other options.”

Keralis, who has been tapping his fingers on the table nervously, stood up. “If we’re really doing this, Shashwammy shouldn’t be voted.” He started. X, who was on the opposite side of the table, immediately broke away from his thoughts, clearly surprised.

“He’s been our de-facto leader, and he’s doing a good job.” Keralis said, looking at the rest of the hermits. “I think his sense of leadership will definitely help us all leave this place, and a lot of you may agree.”

Murmurs of agreements rung through the room. Xisuma let out a sign, Grian guessed it was either a sigh of relief or a sigh of worry, considering the fact that he was looking at Keralis with some sort of mixed emotions...Grian couldn’t tell behind the mask.

“Thank you, Keralis. And Thank you, everyone.” Xisuma’s voice laced with gentleness, bowing his head down slightly. “I’ll continue to do my best.”

Grian smiled, he was happy to see their admin safe. But that still leaves 19 other people still on the hook, including himself. He glanced at the clock and about 5 minutes had already passed.

They needed to hurry up.

“I think Wels should be safe too.” The aforementioned knight looked up, surprised by his name being mentioned. It was Etho who spoke. “His maps will be really useful, and he even took notes for us. He did enough to be cleared.”

“By that logic, Doc should be in the clear as well.” Joe Hills moved to adjust his glasses before he continued. “He explored under the ocean and found out some information that we probably would not know otherwise.”

Xisuma nodded. “I agree, Wels and Doc both contributed to the group a lot already.”

Grian couldn’t read either of their reactions, Wels turned his face away from the group and Doc simply looked torned about the situation. It was understandable, given the situation.

“That still leaves 17 other people.” Cleo muttered, arms crossed. “That’s still a big number, and we don’t have a lot to work with.”

“What are we supposed to do, anyway?” Iskall cut in, his voice filled with both annoyance and worry. “We are literally voting for someone here to potentially die. Are there right or wrong options at this point? Either way, it’s going to end badly.”

“Also, the votes are anonymous. I love you guys, but if we try to arrange the vote there might be some people who won’t follow through.” False added. “So instead of judging on who did something good, maybe we should just bite the bullet and use our own personal judgement. It’s only been a day, a lot of us haven't done much.”

Ren nodded along, his head resting on his hands as he leaned on the table. “Yeah, after this point it might just turn into splitting hair. We can just keep the vote to ourselves, so there won’t be any bad blood.”

Grian turned towards the clock, it’s only been 20 minutes. Still, False was right, they didn’t exactly have a lot to go off of. Grian looked up to see some of the hermits eating, and none of them seemed like they were poisoned or something, so he did the same.

However, he did see some hermits whisper, and some others scrolling through their communicator. Shakily, Grian opened up his own communicator, staring at the list shown on the screen that was mocking him.

Choose someone.

-2-0—H-E-R-M-I-T-S—R-E-M-A-I-N-I-N-G-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first voting begins!
> 
> You can pick any of the present hermits to submit their name into the pile, anyone. This include people you discussed should be safe from the voting (because those are just opinions, after all :) ) and that also include yourself.
> 
> Remember, you must vote someone. Comment the name of the person you think Grian should vote, majority pick wins. (Or lose, depending on how you look at it.)
> 
> —
> 
> ALTERNATE ROUTES:
> 
> Congratulations! You picked the best possible option. Here’s what would’ve happened otherwise.
> 
> KEEP QUIET: It’s not a wrong option, per se, but it IS the boring option. Grian continues to be alone in his look out.
> 
> ACCUSE SOMEONE: I can’t say exactly what would’ve happened, but this is the ‘high risk high reward’ option. Depending on who you accuse, you might get a short cut to one of the hidden secrets OR mess up your relationships really badly.
> 
> —
> 
> OTHER NOTES:
> 
> I must say, this chapter may seem like some sort of filler, but there’s actually quite a lot of...well, you’ll get it.


	5. Chapter 1.3: Game of life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Look around, look around, at how lucky we are to be alive right now.” - ‘That would be enough’

ANSWERS PROCESSING…  
…

VOTE DECIDED

I won’t say who got the majority vote for now, you’ll find that out in the story soon enough. I hope you will enjoy it!

-2-0—H-E-R-M-I-T-S—R-E-M-A-I-N-I-N-G-

Grian felt like he was freezing.

His hands ran cold, pausing and hesitating at every name his finger hovered over, trying to decide who to choose, who to betray. None of them felt right, none of them truly deserves to be sent to face death.

The rational side of him, however, whispered in the back of his mind. If he doesn’t vote, he would be the one who will end up dead instead. Isn’t it better to just get it over with? It’s not like the person he votes for will definitely get picked.

Grian let out a shaky sigh, making excuses didn’t really make him feel better. He looked up at the rest of the hermits, and they weren’t dealing with this much better than he is either. Etho was scrolling through his communicator silently, and so was Keralis. Tango and Cub were talking, though Grian couldn’t hear what it was about, he was sure it was stressful for the both of them. Joe and Cleo seem to already have voted, but still unhappy about it.

Then, Grian’s eyes fell on Doc.

The half-creeper was picking at his food, looking more unfocused than he had ever before.

Grian bit his lips, as his own finger mindlessly over his communicator. Doc was smart, strong, and actually quite charismatic. He’s what people would consider a walking legend, after all. He would have the best chance of getting past whatever the challenge will be out of anyone here, right?

Before he knew it, a big ‘You have voted for Docm77. Thank you for your cooperation’ flashed on the screen of his communicator. Grian shoved his communicator into his pocket and tried to push down the pang of guilt that shot through his body.

He just voted for a friend that they collectively decided should be safe, did he betray everyone?

He could only wallow in silence as he watched others gradually vote as well. Before they knew it, there were only about 5 minutes left, with only a few who hadn't voted for anyone.

“Zedaph, you gotta vote.” Grian leaned back in his chair and turned towards the sound to see XB gently patting Zedaph’s shoulder. No one else seems to be paying much attention to them. “I know it’s a tough choice, but you have to make it. Otherwise, you’re going to die for no good reason.”

Grian couldn’t see much from his angle, but he could see just enough to tell that Zedaph probably nodded and did so. With that, the big TV screen at the end of the table flickers and changes back from the timer to a smiley face.

“Everyone has voted. Thank you for your cooperation. Tomorrow at noon, please meet at the main hall to participate in the name and challenge choosing ceremony.” HARP said as the hermits looked on nervously. “Remember, this is not majority rules. It’s whoever is unfortunate enough to get their name drawn so even if you feel like a lot of people voted for you, you may still have a chance. May the odds be in your favor.”

Iskall squinted “Was that a refer—”

“Guys, take a look at this.” Cleo, who had been scrolling through her communicator, showed the screen to her peers, who all leaned closer to have a closer look. It’s a bit crowded with the way the table is set up, not to mention it’s 19 people versus one tiny screen. What was on it was very eye-catching though.

‘ZombieCleo

Status: Alive  
Challenge Participated: 0  
Challenge Won: 0  
Room No.: 208’

It was a profile of some kind, Grian realized. He fished his communicator from his pocket and navigated through it as well, it didn’t take too long to find his own version of the exact same thing Cleo has.

“Is it just me, or is the wording a little odd.” The claim came from Impulse, who had his hand up to his chin. “Here it says ‘Challenge Participated’ and ‘Challenge Won’ but if what HARP said is true, then it’s impossible for those two numbers to be different. If we lose, we die, and our communicator is probably going to be taken out with us.”

Xisuma’s eyes narrowed in consideration. “Huh, you’re right. That IS a little weird.”

“It could just be an oversight?” Stress suggested, but Xisuma shook his head dismissively. “No, I doubt it. Everything about this place so far seems far too intricate, far too intentional. Whoever or whatever is behind this wouldn’t let such a glaring mistake slide.”

Everyone was quiet. Maybe for different reasons like decision, consideration, concern. It’s not as if Grian could tell, he was simply guessing from his own emotions.

Suddenly, a yawn was heard around the room and 19 heads turned towards the sound. It was Bdubs, rubbing his eyes tiredly before mumbling an apology. “Sorry, ‘M not used to sleeping late.”

“Bdubs, It’s barely 7 P.M.” Wels commented.

“Your point?”

“Alright, Alright.” Grian could hear Xisuma stifling his chuckles through his tone. “We should go take a nice bath and rest, tomorrow will probably be a very long day.”

With that, the group dispersed. Nobody really stuck around the dining room for much longer, understandably so. Grian took his time though, and once he was about to leave, everyone else had already left. Everyone except…

“Zedaph?” Grian called out to the taller blond, who was standing by one of the many giant windows. The man simply turned around, violet eyes widening in surprise. It seemed like he didn’t even realize he wasn’t alone.

“Grian?” He called back in an equally quizzical tone. “What are you still doing down here, I thought you had already left with Mumbo and Iskall.”

“I could be asking you the same thing.”

To that, Zedaph only shrugged before returning to stare out the window. It felt like a stab to his heart, to see so many of his friends acting so unlike themselves. First it was Etho, then Scar, and now Zedaph. So solemn, so defeated, so lost. It was almost hard to believe that things could change so much within a day.

Before Grian could put up a comforting smile and make yet another encouraging speech, Zedaph spoke.

“Do you think you would be able to tell if one of your best friends were lying?”

The question fully caught Grian off-guard, but Zedaph seemed serious about it. Grian considered it, body unmoving, but his gaze never left the tall blond.

“I guess it depends, none of them are very good at lying usually.” Grian thought back to how Iskall struggled to stifled his grin when Grian questioned him about a new prank that popped up, or how Mumbo’s voice would get pitchier even if his lies were harmless yet obvious, or even how Scar would often end his statement with a ‘Mhm!’ as he plays innocent.

“I see.”

“Why...do you ask?”

“I just have a hunch.” Zedaph stated, shaking his head. “You know, when you don’t really have anything to back it up but you just have this gut feeling.”

Grian had, in fact, felt something similar as well. Clearly, since he had made a deal with Iskall, Mumbo, and Xisuma earlier. But Zedaph was talking about close friends, right? Surely not… Grian shook the thought away before he jumped the gun. “What hunch?” He asked.

Zedaph turned his head slightly back, to get a glimpse of Grian, he assumed, and before he spoke his mind, he hesitated. This wasn’t a good sign, Grian could already tell that this conversation will plant even more seeds of doubt in Zedaph and his own mind.

“That Tango and Impulse are hiding something from me.”

...What?

“Are you sure? I can’t see them possibly excluding—”

“That’s the thing!” Zedaph exclaimed, effectively cutting Grian off. “I don’t know, I have no evidence to back it up. And even if they were hiding something from me, I don’t think they even realize they’re both doing it!”

Zedaph threw his arms into the air, accompanied by a groan of frustration. Grian walked over to pat the other’s back. “Calm down, take a deep breath. I’m gonna need to to slowly speak, alright?”

Zedaph nodded and did as Grian asked. Once he fully calmed down, Zedaph started explaining. “Like I said, I have nothing concrete. I just feel like there’s something I don’t know, I can’t put my finger on it.”

“Tango and Impulse have items though, I saw Tango’s and we all saw Impulse’s.” Grian recalled, to which Zedaph slowly shook his head slowly in response. “No, I don’t think they’re lying...they are just— They’re hiding something, I just know it.”

Grian could only sit and carefully listen as Zedaph continued his rambling in full detail, offering a few suggestions here and there that even he thought wasn’t all that helpful. It took a few moments, but once Zedaph finally let it all out, Grian searched for answers.

“You can’t make assumptions, but I think if you have a gut feeling you should at least pay attention to their behavior.” Zedaph only nodded at that, so Grian continued. “I can help you, if you want an extra pair of eyes.”

Zedaph gave him a smile, which caused Grian to automatically smile back with relief and joy that his friend seems to be doing a bit better.

“Thanks, I appreciate that.”

“You’re welcome. Now let’s go, we still need to shower.”

-2-0—H-E-R-M-I-T-S—R-E-M-A-I-N-I-N-G-

Grian had a good night sleep, surprisingly.

Everything was quite peaceful, the night went well, the morning routine that followed also went well. He began making his way down to get breakfast, and that was when he came across Joe, who was also making his way down. The two paused to greet the other.

“Good morning, Grian.”

“Hey Joe, did you have a good night's sleep?”

“Yes, for the most part.”

“For the most part?” Grian repeated, to which Joe slightly stuttered at. “Yeah, I just heard something in the middle of the night. I’m not sure where it’s from but it’s kind of like something fell from outside, if I were to guess.”

“Huh, weird. I didn’t hear anything, unless I slept through it.” Grian muttered, following Joe down the stairs. “And I thought the room was sound-proof for sure.”

“I thought so too, but last night proved me wrong I suppose.”

Grian thought it was a tad weird, there was almost no doubt that the rooms were soundproof. There HAS to be some other explanation. Before he could voice his suspicions, however, they had reached the dining room.

And boy, was it loud.

“Guys, do you smell that?”

“SCAR! YOUR TOAST IS BURNING!”

“How did you mess up a toast?...”

“Bdubs, you’re about to faceplant into your cereal—”

“Can— Can I please get a waffle?”

“Was that a—”

“BDUBS, NO!”

It was pure chaos, and this was only about half the present hermits. In the kitchen was Scar, Cub and Etho trying to salvage Scar’s toast and put out the fire while Jellie watched from the floor nearby. Impulse was trying to stop Bdubs from sleeping in a bowl of cereal, Tango and Zedaph did not help since they both started crackling. Iskall looked...confused.

‘At least Zadaph looks happier now.’ Grian thought to himself.

“Howdy y’all.” Joe greeted with a smile, to which Tango looked up from his giggling to wave at the both of them.

“Hey Joe, Hey Grian! Good morning.” Then a chorus of ‘hello’s and ‘good morning’s followed suit. Grian couldn’t help but smile at the sight, it was as if nothing ever happened. Everyone looked so happy.

He tried not to think about it too much.

Eventually, he was served omelette and toast as per his request, and unlike Scar’s toast, it wasn’t burnt. Grian looked towards Bdubs sleeping on the table and thought it was a bit unusual. Sure, Bdubs was a very early sleeper but even on nights he doesn’t go to bed before 8 P.M. he never fall asleep in the middle of the day, let alone in the morning.

“What’s up with Bdubs?” He decided to ask, unintentionally interrupting team ZIT’s conversation. Before he could say sorry, though, Impulse shook his head like he knew exactly what Grian was about to say.

“It’s ok.” Impulse grinned, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m not sure what’s up exactly, but he said he couldn’t sleep last night.”

“Bdubs couldn’t sleep? That’s a sentence I thought I’d never hear ever.”

“Yeah, He said something about hearing people talking all night.”

Grian started to think the room wasn’t sound-proof, or at least not to the extent of what he initially thought. That still wouldn’t add up, though. “Who would be talking all night? Didn’t everyone go into their own rooms pretty early?”

Impulse nodded. “They did, I first thought ‘hey, his room is also right above the dining hall, so maybe someone went there at night’ but they’d have to be really loud in order for Bdubs to hear it all the way at the second floor.” Impulse paused for a second, his fingers idly dancing on his cheek. “The other option is that they were talking in the hallway, or even Wels’ room but I think Wels would know if that’s the case.”

Grian looked around, other than the group he saw when he first arrived with Joe, only Stress, Mumbo and Doc has made their way down. Wels wasn’t here yet. “We could always ask if we need to.” Grian suggested, to which Impulse seemed to agree.

“Sure, I don’t see why not. Though I was going to ask the general direction of the voice and what exactly were they talking about, if Bdubs even knows it of course.”

“Good idea.”

Their conversation died down a bit as Grian dug into his breakfast, which was more than decent. He watched as Ren, Cleo and False walked in, followed shortly by everyone else, including Wels.

“Hey Wels!” Impulse beat him to the punch in saying hi to Wels, who seemed pleasantly surprised by it.

“Hello Impulse! Is there anything you need?” The knight in shining armor asked, tone both confused and slightly elated. Impulse replied with an equally infectious smile. “Actually, Grian and I wanted to ask if you heard anyone talking last night.”

The knight gazed towards the ceiling as he tried to recall the previous night. “I’m pretty sure I didn’t, and I’m not a very heavy sleeper, why’d you ask?”

“Bdubs said he heard people talking last night, so he couldn’t sleep.”

“Bdubs couldn’t sleep? Never thought I’d see the day.”

“That’s what I said!” Grian cut in, earning a smile from both of the other men. Wels looked towards the sleeping man on the table before he continued speaking. “Aren’t the rooms sound-proof? I couldn’t ever hear outside in mine.”

Huh. So maybe the rooms WERE sound-proof after all. Impulse let out a ‘hmmm’ sound at Wels’ statement, looking to be deep in thoughts with his eyes closed and brows drawn together. “I guess we can always ask later, you should go get breakfast before it gets cold, Wels.”

“Oh, right!” Wels exclaimed before he began walking towards the kitchen. “I’ll talk to the both of you later, then!”

“Thanks for your time, Wels!” Grian waved. He finally finished his breakfast, with the other hermits keeping him company throughout the morning.

It was a good morning.

-2-0—H-E-R-M-I-T-S—R-E-M-A-I-N-I-N-G-

Time flies.

One minute, he was still sitting at the dining table, joyfully chatting with xB, Keralis, and Ren. The next minute, he was standing in the main hall, staring at the large screen slowly descending from above. He was surrounded by the other hermits, but it doesn’t feel quite nearly as safe. It feels suffocating, it feels too crowded.

Eventually, the screen turns on.

“Good afternoon, Hermits.” The robotic voice greeted, much to the clear dismay of the ones it is addressing. “Thank you for coming to our very first PRE-GAME CEREMONY. Everyone please take a look under this screen.”

The table from the previous time rose from the ground, but this time, on the table were fancy glasses of champagne, along with glasses of wine or beer. There were also 20 tokens on the table, all with a number from 1 to 20. The robotic voice continued its explanation.

“Everyone please take a token and hold onto it, it does not matter which number you take, that will come into play later. However, the drinks are all optional.” The HARP said, causing each hermit to go up to the table and grab a token. Grian noticed that some people didn’t take a drink though, which was probably smart of them.

Grin himself took a glass of champagne, though he didn’t drink more than a sip, and a token. He didn’t look at which number he took initially, so he only realized once he was back at where he was standing prior that his token was number 2. Once Stress, the last hermit to go up to the table, grabbed her token, the television screen replaced the smiley face with something that looks like a slot machine’s screen but instead of 3 slots, there were only 2.

“This is to determine which of you will spin the roulette on what challenge will be played, and which of you will spin the roulette that shall decide who amongst the people who was voted last night will be playing.” HARP’s robotic voice rang through the room once more. “Whoever holds the token with a corresponding number to the first slot will then be asked to stand on the left of this screen, while the other person who holds the tolen with a corresponding number to the second slot will stand on the right.”

Grian looked around, he felt nervousness, resentment, and fear filled the air. They didn’t know that THEY will be the one that has to randomize who has to play, none of this was explained before.

“Without further ado...The lucky numbers are…!”

The slots start spinning, and eventually they landed.

“Number 10 and Number 9. Please make your way to my left and my right respectively.”

At that, Grian began looking around. No one moved for a second, but then he saw movement at the corner of his eyes. It was Iskall who moved and took his place on the left, looking more than unhappy about the situation. Meanwhile, the person who moved to the right was none other than Xisuma himself, also looking like he’d rather be anywhere else. Suddenly, two giant levers rose from the floor besides the two hermits, along with a giant picker wheel on either side, both of which only showed one slot.

“Iskall85, please push your lever.”

With a grumble, Iskall moved to do so. Once he pushed the level, the wheel next to him spun at high speed. The pace dwindled as the wheel started to stop. The results were displayed on screen.

“The game chosen is...PRISONERS.”

What does that mean? Apparently they won’t know until it’s actually time because HARP simply continued on like nothing ever happened.

“Xisuma, please push your lever now.”

The admin hesitated, but did as he was told. That wheel began to spin around, but this time Grian tried to concentrate more. He tried, but the wheel was moving too fast for him to read each name that passed by.

“The participant chosen is…”

The wheel stopped, his breath hitched.

“ZOMBIECLEO.”

Grian whipped his head around to look at the zombie girl. She surprisingly didn’t seem as bothered as one would be when they were not only voted to be in a death game by at least one of your friends, but also unlucky enough to get picked by a wheel of names. She simply looked...resigned. Grian looked towards Xisuma who was standing by the lever. He looked full of guilt, Grian wished he could give the both of them reassurance that everything will be fine.

But HARP was not done.

“HOWEVER, This game is special as it requires two players. Xisuma, please press the lever once more to determine her partner.”

“Wait, this wasn’t in the rules!” Stress interjected. “Only one of us will be risking our life, that’s bad enough. Now you’re telling me two will be risking their lives!?”

The robot did not waver, however. It only gave one, simple response. “It is true that usually, only one person will be forced to play. However, this is one of the special games where another player is necessary. Now, Xisuma?”

“What the hell…” Grian heard Tango muttered, looking dejected and downright pissed at the situation. Grian could understand the frustration, though, as he doesn’t feel so different. The hermits watched as Xisuma pushed the lever with a shaky hand, and the wheel spun once more.

“The participant chosen is…”

It landed for the second time.

“FALSESYMMETRY.”

HARP’s screen changed back to a smiley face once the announcement was done, and once again, it spoke. “ZombieCleo, falsesymmetry. You will both have 10 minutes to prepare.”

With that, the wheels, the levers, the table, all descend back into the floor. Only the screen remained, looking like any other ordinary television screen displaying a timer. Grian’s eyes lingered on it before he forced himself to look back at the other hermits, he almost regretted it.

There they were, standing around False and Cleo, giving them encouraging words that they knew would mean very little considering what was about to happen.

“Falsie…” He heard Ren whisper as he reached out to his friend. The blonde girl gave him a smile, a calm one she always had.

“I’ll be fine, Ren.” False took a deep breath. “I knew I was going to be nominated at least once. I just...I just want to know who voted for me.” She stated. Cleo, who was not far from her, also nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I’d like to know too.”

Nothing. No one said anything.

False gave yet another melancholic smile. “That’s ok, I wouldn’t say either if I was in your position.” The girl stated, looking towards the rest of the hermits. “But to whoever it was, I believe your intentions were good. I don’t blame you.”

Her statement was firm, strong. Grian knew False quite well, well enough to know that she genuinely meant what she said. The minutes of silence following her words, though, was deafening.

“There’s about 5 minutes left.” Cleo said, looking at the screen while effectively breaking said silence. The zombie hybrid turns back around to see Joe, who pulled her into a tight hug. The man eventually let go after a few moments, pushing his glasses up ever so slightly.

“I know you’re both strong and could handle yourselves, but…” Joe trailed off, looking at both of the players. “Stay safe, okay?”

“I’ll try.” Cleo answered with a small smile of her own. She then turned around to the rest of the hermits, opening her arms up, brightening up slightly. “You guys want a hug before False and I gotta go?”

That was how everyone joined a group hug, solemnly embracing each other as they watched the counter count down until it finally hit 0.

“Your time is up.” The machine’s voice stated. “ZombieCleo, falsesymmetry, please make your way to the front of the screen. Everyone else, please stay where you are and do not move.” After a few ‘good luck’s and ‘stay safe’s, False and Cleo made their way to the screen. What happened next, Grian wasn’t prepared for.

The floor below HIM and the rest of the hermits slowly descended, causing some of them to yell in surprise. Grian could see the ‘floor’ close above them as he and the others were moved by what they were standing on, left in complete and utter darkness.

“No one move!” Grian heard Xisuma yell for them, alarmed yet cautious. “I think we’re in an elevator of some kind and there may not be walls! And don’t panic!”

That got the hermits to calm down, at least a little but. Some people were asking the others their position, some others were whispering to ask who the nearest person was. Eventually, all movement stopped and they could finally see.

In front of them were False and Cleo in separate rooms, each of them in what seems to be an electric chair, facing a wall between the two. They don’t seem to realize the other hermits watching, or rather, they can’t see them. Instantly, Grian knew that whatever happens, they would be forced to watch through the one way mirror.

“I don’t like this…” Keralis mumbled beside him. Grian agreed.

HARP’s voice was heard by all of them. “Hello, spectating hermits. Here, you will be able to watch the chosen participant play the game. You can see and hear them, however, they cannot hear or see you. You will also be able to hear my explanation of the game each time you are here. Have a nice time.”

“Have a nice time.” Grian heard Cub sarcastically repeated after the machine, but he was too worried to find it funny, even if he would have otherwise.

This won’t end well for anyone.

-2-0—H-E-R-M-I-T-S—R-E-M-A-I-N-I-N-G-

Cleo was nervous.

She was very nervous, as anyone would be when they and one of their friends were forced to play a death game and was now on an electric chair. Cleo took a deep breath and took a look around the room, well, as much as she could when bound to a wooden chair.

Mirrors all around her, excluding the white wall with a futuristic screen on the wall. In the corner, she noticed a speaker, which HARP soon used to speak through.

“Hello, ZombieCleo, falsesymmetry. Welcome to PRISONERS. This game is very simple, as it’s based on the popular prisoner’s dilemma.” HARP stated, the screen in front of her shows the corresponding infographics. “Each of you will have to make a choice between SPARE and KILL without the knowledge of what the other will choose.”

“If both of you choose SPARE, you will both live...with a few consequences. If one of you chooses SPARE and another chooses KILL, the one who chose SPARE will be electrocuted to death and the one who chose KILL will be let off scot free, no consequences. If both of you choose KILL, both of you will be electrocuted to death.”

The screen then displayed the timer, 2 minutes.

“You will have 2 minutes to decide, if you don’t, you will be electrocuted to death. You may choose by saying either ‘SPARE’ or ‘KILL’ out loud, your opponent will not hear you. Good luck.”

With that, the timer starts counting down.

Cleo took a breath, she needed to think this through rationally.

Choose KILL or SPARE.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the first challenge! I honestly was hoping this particular one wasn’t picked so soon but hey, at least it’s not a hard game.
> 
> You only have 2 options, not deciding at all will get Cleo killed.
> 
> Your first option is SPARE. If you choose this and False also choose spare, both of them will live at a cost. If False choose KILL, however, Cleo will die and False can live without any consequences.
> 
> Your other option is KILL. If you choose this and False also choose kill, both of them will die. If False choose SPARE, however, False will die and Cleo can live without any consequences.
> 
> False’s choice is already set in stone, so it’s up to you. Type your choice in the comments, and majority wins.
> 
> —
> 
> ALTERNATE ROUTES:
> 
> There’s not a lot to be said here, since who Grian voted would just change accordingly. I will say, though, that your reasonings are all very interesting to read! Even if I can’t really factor those in.
> 
> —
> 
> OTHER NOTES:
> 
> First of all, let me say sorry that this took so long. This chapter required a lot of planning and I can’t exactly write this in advance, sorry!
> 
> To be perfectly honest, I was tempted to re-spin the wheel for False’s spin but that would defeat the purpose of this game and it would take the fun of it away for me. Still, kinda sucks it decided to pick 2 stronk gurls for this, haha.

**Author's Note:**

> How many shall succumb to the void’s cold embrace, I wonder.


End file.
